Forget your old-fashioned ideas
about the solid waste industry.
It’s not just about hauling
garbage anymore.

This is according to Bruce J.
Parker, president and CEO of
the National Solid Wastes Management
Association (NSWMA), in a speech
given to the Society of Government
Economists in Washington. NSWMA
represents the private sector
solid waste industry in the
United States.

“Americans throw out more than
250 million tons of garbage
each year. Our industry continues
to protect public health and
the environment by managing
this waste,” Parker said. “But
in recent years, we’ve pioneered
technologies that have changed
the ways we deal with our trash.
We’ve invested tens of millions
of dollars, not only to modernize
landfills and boost recycling
rates, but also to cut greenhouse
gas emissions and air pollutants,
and find renewable sources of
energy that reduce our dependence
on fossil fuels.”

Parker pointed to waste-based
energy projects, which turn
household garbage into clean,
renewable energy. In addition
to 87 waste-to-energy facilities
operated by the industry – generating
enough electricity to power
1.7 million homes – it also
operates 470 landfill-gas-to-energy
projects that provide electricity
and heat for corporate and government
users in 44 states. The EPA
has identified an additional
520 landfills across the nation
as potential candidates for
similar energy projects.

Other industry initiatives include
working with truck manufacturers
to develop more fuel-efficient
vehicles, investing in the development
of alternative fuels such as
biodiesel, compressed natural
gas and ethanol, using renewable
sources of energy such as solar
to power compacting equipment,
and placing solar panels and
wind turbines on landfills to
produce even more energy.

“Increasingly, the industry
is relying on cleaner-burning
fuels to power our fleet of
130,000 trucks,” Parker said.
“We’re also looking toward hybrid
technology to further reduce
greenhouse emissions and improve
air quality.”

Recycling and composting offer
another important environmental
success story, Parker said.
The industry processed recycling
for or composted slightly more
than one third of all municipal
solid wastes in 2007, conserving
precious resources, protecting
air and water from potential
pollution and leading to a 2.5
percent reduction in America’s
total greenhouse gas emissions,
according to the EPA.

“The solid waste industry is
proud of its environmental achievements,
but there is much more to do.
Our collective efforts have
made a difference, and we continue
to raise the bar,” Parker said.